THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 1, 1995 TAG: 9510010178
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DOVER, DEL. LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
On unfamiliar turf and moving up in class to face a Division I-AA team, the Norfolk State Spartans needed everything to go right Saturday afternoon at Alumni Stadium.
Instead, a big wrong hobbled the Spartans' hopes.
James Roe, Norfolk State's All-American wide receiver, was sidelined with a sprained right ankle eight minutes in, and the Spartans' offense never fully recovered.
The result: a 20-14 loss to previously winless Delaware State.
Hornets coach Bill Collick wished Roe no ill will and a speedy recovery. But he'd seen quite enough the 6-foot-2, 185-pounder before two Hornets defensive backs rolled over Roe's ankle following a 20-yard reception.
``I think he's pretty special,'' Collick said. ``And it's as much what he does with the ball after he has it as anything.''
Roe stung the Hornets (1-3) with a 56-yard punt return in the opening minutes that set up a 17-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Sparrow to Ronald Boone.
Roe then caught a 73-yard touchdown pass of his own on a double-reverse flea flicker from Sparrow as the Spartans bolted to a 14-0 lead in the game's first six minutes.
After having the ankle re-taped, Roe tested it on the sidelines, but unsuccessfully.
By the second quarter, Roe's shoulder pads were off and he had a towel draped over his head.
``I just got it (the ankle) caught in an awkward position,'' Roe said. ``It just kept getting more tender.''
The Hornets, meanwhile, were erasing the deficit.
On the first play of the second quarter, Fabian Thorne scored on a 41-yard dive play. Just over 10 minutes later, Dennis Hill scored on a 6-yard run off left tackle to deadlock matters.
When Thalamus Trammel returned a punt 64 yards to the Norfolk State 21, it set up option quarterback MacAdoo Harrison-Dixon's 6-yard keeper with 20 seconds left in the half. The extra point attempt was blocked, but the Hornets had their 20-14 lead.
Three times in the first half, Spartans drives into Delaware State territory were thwarted when Sparrow was sacked either on third or fourth down.
``They were pinning back their ears and coming,'' Sparrow said. ``And they had some delayed blitzes that caught us off guard.''
The Spartans opened the second half by driving to the Hornets' 20, but Darius Blount bobbled a Sparrow pass on fourth-and-2 that would have given Norfolk State a first down at the Delaware State 15.
While the Spartans defense repeatedly stopped Delaware State in the second half, that first foiled Norfolk State possession was a foreshadowing.
The Spartans (3-2 overall and in the CIAA) reached the Delaware State 15- and 16-yard lines on their next two possessions but came away empty. The first drive was thwarted by a 10-yard illegal blocking penalty; back-to-back sacks killed the second.
Still, the Spartans had one last-gasp chance when they got the ball on their 6 with 3:31 remaining.
Out of timeouts, Sparrow quickly moved the Spartans downfield. A 40-yard hookup with Boone gave Norfolk State first down at the Delaware State 22 with just under two minutes left.
But Sparrow's next pass bounded off Reggie Bureau's shoulder pad at the 15 as Delaware State's Reggie Brown hit Bureau. Strong safety Jemel Blagmon caught the fluttering ball and returned it to the 20. The Hornets then ran out the remaining 96 seconds. by CNB